Conveying apparatus.



PATENTED APR. 28, 1908.

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UNITED STATES THOMAS SPENCER MILLER, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

CONVEYING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 20, 1906.

Patented April 28, 1908.

Serial No. 306,955.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS SPENCER MILLER, a citizen of the United States, and a I resident of South Orange, county of Essex,

and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Conveying Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The apparatus which is the subject of the resent application is particularly designed or transferring coal or other cargo between vessels at sea but features of the same may be capable of other uses.

My present invention contains various features ca able of use either in conjunction or separate y and relating respectively to the positioning of the vessels, the construction of cableways and the construction of the loadcarriage, as well as other features hereinafter more articularly described and referred to in the o aims.-

I-Ieretofore, it has been, I believe, universally supposed that for the purpose of successfully coaling at sea it was necessary that one of the ships should be towed astern of the other and I have invented a large number of appliances for accomplishing the result with the ships in that relative position as shown in my patents numbered 637142, 637143, 691911, 694355, 718368, 736996, 759295, 777685, and 786510. I have, however, discovered the fallacy of such supposition and that, on the contrary, the shi s may be maintained with courses-in-paral el and in, that osition cableways may be combined with t em whereby highly superior results may be obtained alike in speed of coaling, economy of labor in handling the coal, economy of labor in handling the apparatus, economy in the apparatus itself and convenience in the location on the ships where the coal is sent and received.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of one form of my invention in o eration between two ships. Fig. 2 is a p an view of another form in operation between two other ships. Fig; 3 is a stern view partly in section of the ships shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic viewof the cableway 8 or 9 of Fi 2; Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are details of the loa -carriage, the running block and the coupler. Fig.9 is a diagrammatic view of the cableway 6" or 7 a of Fig. 2. Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view showing a modification of the cablewayin which the load-carriage traction-rope is omitted.

1 is the receiving ship and 2 the supply ship side by side, preferably both steaming ahead; one, being in advance of and steaming faster than the other.

3 is a forward tow-line whereby the shipin advance makes up for the difference in steaming speed by towing the other. 3 a and 3 are additional connecting lines which will be used in sufficient numbers to maintain the relative positions of the ships.

4. and 5 are the rudders which are turned away from each other so as to draw the sterns of the two shi s towards each other and produce a slight c ivergence between the two ships from stern to stem. I have discovered that under the conditions above described this relative position of the ships may be maintained under the strain of a c0nnecting cableway and that as they advance in this osition a congestion of the water is produced between the ships or against the opposed sides of the ships, which acts as a yield- 1ng separator permittin their relative movement to the extent made necessary by wave motion, but pressing them continuously apart to cooperate towards holding the cableways taut and preventing any possibility of contact between the ships themselves.

In Figs. 1 and 2 there are three forms of cableway showntwo of each form. 6 and 7 are of one form and are shown in Fi s. 1 and 8. 6 a and 7 a are of another form an are shown in Figs. 2 and 9. 8 and 9 are of a third form and are shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

A simple form or modification of cableway is shown in Fig. 10 wherein the traction rope is omitted and gravity-is depended upon to propel the carriage.

In all these forms of cableway the following parts are correspondingly identified:

10 is the supporting rope or cable, one end of which is connected by coupling 38 to the cable extension 10, which extends upward may be of the form shown in my Patent No. 715,111 of December 2, 1902.

40 is a pull down rope fast at one end to the coupling 38 and extending to a winch-head 52 on the deck of one ship.

42 is a pull-down rope fast at one end to the block 43 running on rope l0 and extending down to a winch-head 011 the deck of the same ship on which the give-and-take drum 17 is located. I

45 is a rope or suspender, one end of which is fast to the running block 43 and the other end of which is fixed at an elevated point 46 on the ship. This suspender 45 prevents the block 43 from running down on cable 10 and is of such length as to permit the block 43 .when hauled down by rope 42 to come to a convenient position within reach of ano )erator standing on load rest as 48. 47 and 48 are the load rests on the respective ships, from one of which the load starts and to the other of which it is delivered.

With the cableway in either of said forms the operation for coaling at sea is as follows: The two ships are steaming ahead side by side about 100 feet apart one somewhat towing the other and with diverging helms as above described. The coal is filled into bags in the hold 49 of the collier which are hoisted onto the deck and brought to the transmitting load rest 47. The pull down rope 40 of Figs. 3, 9, and 10, or pull-down rope 42 of Fig. 4, is operated to pull the supporting rope 10 and load carriage 15 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, just above the load rest 47 A sufiicient number of bags are suspended on the load carriage. The pull-down rope is paid out from the winchhead 'on the collier so that the cable, being under constant tension by give-and-take drum 17, lifts the load of bags oil the load rest 47 in approximately the direction shown at the beginning of the dotted line 50. Then by still further paying out on rope 40 the load is permitted to run along cable 10 in direction of dotted line 50 toward the warship. The load -is landed on load rest 48 of the warship by pulling down on rope 42 of Figs. 3, 9 and 10, or rope 40 of Fig. 4, till the load carriage is in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 above the load rest 48 Where it is within reach of the operator to detach the bags from the load carriage. Thus it will be seen I employ a haul-down to take the load and a haul-down to deliver the load, thereby doing away with auxiliary ap aratus for elevating the load above the loa rest of either ship. It might further be noted that these two haul-downs are shown of different construction; that at the fixed end of the cable being fastened direct to the cable at the proper point to bring the load to the deck. At the slip-drum end of the cable the haul-down has a runnin connection with the cable, and it is preferably maintained at the pro er distance from the ships mast, by the adcltional rope 45, fixed to the mast and haul-down block. Thus, in haulingdown, the loads are deposited at the same pointon the deck.

During all of the above operation, the tension produced by give-and-take drum 1? will be such as to maintain the cable 10 at approximately the sag or deflection shown in Fig. 3. This tension willpreferablybeabout equal to the load carried on. the load carriage. The load will thus not be raised. to an unneeessary height and rope 10 may be small. The drum 17, on account of being driven by a slipping clutch which is constantly urging it to haul in on the cable 10, will be ready to instantly wind up or take in the rope 10 as required by the movements of the masts of the two ships toward each other. It is also constantly ready to pay out any rope that may be called for by the movement of the masts of the ships away from each other. In other words, the tension in rope 10 is constant but the length of rope 10 between supports 12 and 16 may vary. With a uniform tension in the rope 10, a practically uniform sag or deflection is obtained. The load, therefore, is transported on a cable whose curve remains the same whether the sea is rough or smooth.

In practice, with masts of customary height and a tension equal to the total load supported, the deflection inthe center will be about one quarter the span. Such. a deflection carries the load in the course of dotted line 50 approximately between the hulls of the ships.

Some of the advantages of the above mode of operation may be stated as follow-sw-By maintaining the course of the ships, so to speak, in parallel through the coaction of the steaming ahead, the divergent helms, the connecting line or lines and the intervening water, I am enabled to o )erate a plurality of cableways simultaneousl y and whether the individual cableways be of the construction herein described or not, I regard the introduction of this feature of in-parallel-courses into the art of coaling at sea as a highly im portant feature of my invention. As other advantages resulting from this feature of inparallel-courses may be mentioned the fact that it is possible thereby to greatly reduce the distance between the ships and also to take the cargo directly from the deck near the hatches where it is hoisted from the hold thereby gaining time and also materially reducing the manual labor necessary to operate the apparatus. Furthermore, the slip drums and winches required may be located in positions suitable for other uses when not enlployed for this purpose. Furthermore, a. very slack sup orting cable or one having a very deep de eetion may be employed by reason of the heights of the mast relatively same size and power and design as thatheretofore used by me in exerting tension'u on the traction rope. connected for propel ing the load-carriage, in the systems eretofore employed by me wherein one 'vessel was towed astern of the other. The size and power of this drum apparatus is also not in excess of that required on shipboard for other purposes such, for example, as coaling from a barge in a harbor. Therefore, the apparatus that I em loy in the present system when upon a wars ip, puts the warship in a position to avail itself either of the present system of coaling or (in conjunction with a seaanchor) of the system of coaling described in my former patents, or of utilizing the same apparatus for coaling in a harbor and requires no additional e uipment to that which will be found usefu continuously for routine purposes upon an ordinary warship.

In Fig. 2, I have shown each of the masts 13 and13 of the warship as constituting the elevated support for two cableways operating, however, respectively in conjunction with different delivery load-rests48 and 48*. This I am enabled to do by so arranging the two pull-down ropes and 42 thereof that they act not only as pull-down ropes, but also as fore and aft pull ropes; the rope 42 acting to pull the cableway 6* forward or 7 a aft and the rope 40 acting to pull the'cableway 9 aft or 8 forward. 16 for the supporting ropeof each cableway is, in this instance, on a stay 60. Thus, the two cableways 6 and 9 and also 7 and 8 are sufficiently separated to operate without interference with each other by reason of having separated elevated supports at one end and having fore and aft down-pullropes at the opposite end.

. Having now described the features and operation in common between the various forms of cableway, I will now proceed to describe those features wherein the various forms differ from each other.

In the form shown in Fig. 10 gravity is de pended upon to cause the load to travel, but in the forms shown in the other figures, a traction-rope is added consisting of the inhaul rope 33 to haul the loaded carriage from the collier to the warship and the out-haul rope 36 to haul the empty carriage fromthe warship to the collier. The tail of the in-haul rope 33 is fast to the load-carriage 15 and it extends between the sheaves 61 and 62 of the running block 43 of Fi s. 3 and 9, or through block 37, Fig. 4, over t e sheaves 34 adjacent The elevated support 12 and to the sheave 16 and down to the give-andtake drum 35 of Figs. 3 and 4, or the winch head 17 of Fig. 9, around which its head. end is coiled. The tail of the out-haul rope 36 is fast to the load-carriage 15 and it extends over the. sheave 37 attached to the coupling 38 of Figs. 3 and 9, or between sheaves 61 and 62 of running block 43 of Fig. 4 and thence to the'friction-drum 39 of Fig. 3, or winch-head 17 of Fi 4, or give-and-take drum 35 of Fig. 9. By proper control of these drums, the operators can cause the traction-rope 33, 36 to assist in the move-- ment of the load-carriage above described so as to cause the load to traverse the course indicated by the dotted line 50.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 10, a tackle 11 is shown whereby the end of the cable 10 is connected with the hull of the ship, which tackle will assist in the erection of the apparatus.

In cableways of the forms of 6, 7, 6 and 7 the give and take drum 17 (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 9) and the running block 43 are located atthe receiving ship end of the cableway but in cableways 8 and 9 (Figs. 2 and 4) the give and take drum 17 and the running block 43 are located at the transmitting ship.

The warship in both Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, is shown with the same equipment, namely two giVe-and-take drum winches Y17 and two giveand-take drum winches 35. The collier of Fig. 2, however, is equipped with two giveand-take drum winches 17 and two give-andtake drum-winches 35 in addition to the regular equipment of four ordinary ship winches 52. Thus, my present planwould make it possible for a warship equipped with my apparatus to take coal. from a collier having no special equipment for the purpose and the same warship will be able to take coal at twice the rate from a collier which has been especially equipped with the four additional give-and take drum winches for the purpose,

and the apparatus for cableways 8 and 9 to cooperate therewith.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1, in each cableway the give-and-take drums 17 and 35 for both the supporting cable 10 and the traction-rope 33, 36, are located on the warship; the collier being an ordinary vessel unprovided with any special apparatus for this purpose. Thus, a warship equipped with this apparatus, will be enabled to maintain two cableway connections with such a collier.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2, for each cableway one of the give-and-take drums is located u I on the warship and the other upon the coilier; that is to say, the give-and-t'ake drum controlling the supporting cable is located upon the warship and the give-and-take drum controlling the tractionrope is located upon the collier or vice versa. For this reason, a Warship having the same equipment offour give-and-take drums as in Fig. 1, is enabled to'maintain four cableway connections with a collier expressly equipped for the purpose, as in Fig. 2.

' In Fig. 2, the steam equipment of ship 1 constitutes a unitary power apparatus where by the give-and-take drum 17 for the sup porting rope of cableway 6 and the give-andtake drum for the traction rope of cableway 9, and the winch heads 44 and 52 for the delivery pull-down ropes of both cableways are all actuated. The steam equipment of ship 2 constitutes a unitary power apparatus whereby the give-and-take drum 35 for the traction-rope of cableway 6 and the giveand-take drum for the supporting-rope of cableway 9 and the Winch heads for the transmitting pull-down ropes of both cableways are all actuated.

Another feature of my invention consists in the load-carriage shown in Figs. 6 and 8 which may or may not be employed in connection with the other features of my invention. This load carriage consists of a frame 15 mounting the wheel 14 at its upper end and carrying at its lower end a finger 18 pivoted at 19 to hold the ring 20 to which the bags or other load receptacles 21 are secured. The finger 18 is moved between the positions shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 6 by the toggle composed of the link 22 and pivoted arm 23; the latter being pivoted at 2 1 and being extended beyond said pivot into the arm 25 provided with an eye 26 for the attachment of cord by which it may be manuto said socket.

ally pulled downward. It is held normally upward in the position shown in Fig. 6 by the spring 27. When the finger 8 is in holding position shown in Fig. 6, the toggle 22, 23, is in looking position, as shown, but as soon as the arm 25 is pulled downward so as to unlock the toggle the weight of the load completes the movement to the position shown in Fig. 8.

28 is a spring held within the socket 3O betweenthe head of eye-bolt 29 and the abutment 31, which is detachably fastened The eye-bolt 29 extends with freedom of longitudinal movement through one side of the frame 15 and through the abutment 31. The jaw-bolt 32 extends with freedom of longitudinal movement through the opposite side of the frame 15, being attached at its inner end to the socket 30. By this arrangement, the spring 28 affords a cushion connection for both the eye-bolt 29 and jaw-bolt 32 with the load-carriage. Furthermore, as the bolts 29 and 32 are free to swivel in the carriage frame 15, the haul ropes 33 and 36 connected to them, respec tively, may twist to any extent without affecting the load-carriage. Fast to the jawbolt 32 is the in-haul rope 33 and fast to the eye-bolt 29 is the out-haul rope 36.

I employ the term cableway in this specification and claims in a broad sense to include any elevated conveying device composed of ropes or cables, whether it contains a supporting rope or standing rope or otherwise, and whether the load runs upon the rope or is carried with the rope.

Unless so specified in the claims, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the location of the apparatus claimed upon ships since I am aware that many features of my apparatus are applicable to a cableway in any position.

I do not wish to limit myself to a slipdrum for a tension device for any of the forms of tensioning devices heretofore shown as a sea anchor, for instance, might be used in place of a slip-drum.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: 1. In combination, a cableway and two advancing boats connected by a forward line and divergently steered upon which said cableway is mounted.

2. In combination, a cableway and two boats advancing on courses-inparallel upon which said cableway is mounted, a load carriage traveling on said cableway and a hauldown for the cableway.

3. In combination, a plurality of substantially parallel cableways and two boats advancing on courses-in-parallel upon which said cableways are mounted.

4. In combination, a cableway, a towing and a towed boat advancing on coursesinparallel upon which boats said cableway is mounted.

5. In combination, two boats advancing on courses-in-parallel, a connecting cableway supported thereon and a haul-down rope on each boat whereby the cableway is hauled down to receive and deliver the load successively.

6. In combination, a cableway, means for hauling said cableway down to receive the load and means for hauling said cableway down to deliver the load; one of said hauldown devices having a running connection with said cableway.

7. In combination, two cableway having a common end support and divergently hauling ropes whereby said cableways are de fiected apart for the delivery of the load.

8. In combination, a cableway, a take-up and pay-out mechanism connected with one end thereof, a haul-down rope having a running connection with said cableway adjacent to said end and a haul-down rope having a fixed connection with said cableway ad jaccnt to the opposite end.

9. In combination, two cablew. ys, a separate take-up and pay-out apparatus whereby tension is maintained on the supporting rope of each cableway, a separate take-up and pay-out apparatus whereby tension is maintained upon the traction rope of each cableway, a unitary power apparatus whereapparatus of the first cableway and the trac- I tion-rope-take-up and pay-out apparatus of the second cableway are actuated and another I unitary power apparatus whereby the supporting-rope-take-up and pay-out apparatus of the second cableway and the traction-ropetake-up and pay-out apparatus of the first cableway are actuated.

10. In combination, a cableway, a running block thereon, a load rest, means whereby said running block is hauled down adjacent to said load rest and a suspender for said running block from an elevated support.

11. In combination, two boats advancing on courses-in-parallel, the mast of oneof said boats and a plurality of cableways between said boats supported at one end upon said mast.

12. In combination, two boats advancing on courses-in-parallel, the mast of one of said boats, a plurality of cableways supported at one end upon said mast and fore and aft haul ropes whereby said cableways are deflected apart.

13. In combination, two boats advancing on courses-in-parallel, a cableway connecting the same containing a supporting rope and a load-carriage traction-rope, a take-up and pay-out mechanism on one of said boats exerting tension on said supporting rope, and a take-up and pay-out mechanism on the other of said boats exerting tension on said traction-rope.

14. In combination, a warship and a collier advancing on courses-in-parallel, two slip drums located adjacent to each of the masts of said warship, two cableways extending from'each of said masts to said collier, one of said slip drums acting as a take-up and pay-out mechanism for exerting tension upon a rope of each of said cableways.

15. In combination, two boats advancing onv courses-in-parallel, two cableways connecting the same each containing a supporting and a traction rope, take-up and pay-out mechanism on one boat whereby tension is exerted on a rope of each cableway and take up and pay-out mechanism on the other boat whereby tension is exerted on another rope of eachcableway.

16. In combination, a cableway, elevated end supports therefor, a tension device whereby said cableway when loaded is maintained at a deflection from the horizontal approximately equal to one quarter the span, a hauldown device whereby the point of maximum deflection may be shifted toward one of said supports.

17. In combination, a cableway, elevated end supports therefor, a tension device whereby said cableway when loaded is maintained at a deflection from the horizontal approximately equal to one quarter the span and two haul-down devices whereby the point of maximum deflection may be shifted toward either support.

18. In combination, a cableway, elevated end supports therefor, a tension device whereby said cableway when loaded is maintained at an. approximately constant deflection from the horizontal and two haul-down devices whereby the point of maximum deflection may be shifted toward either support.

19. Incombination, two ships advancing on courses-in-parallel, a cableway connecting the same, end supports for said cableway ele vated by the masts of said ships, a tension device whereby said cableway is maintained at a deflection supporting the load approximately on a course between the hulls of said vessels and a haul-down device whereby the point of maximum deflection is shifted toward the receiving ship.

20. In combination, two ships advancing on courses-in-parallel, a cableway connecting the same and supports for the ends of said cableway elevated by the masts of said ships, a traveling carriage on the cableway and a haul-down for the cableway. 21. In a cableway, in combination, a supporting cable, a load carriage running thereon, a load-carriage-traction-rope and a spring interposed at the carriage between the oppositely extending rims of said traction-rope.

22. In a cableway load-carriage, in combination the supporting sheave 14, a spring 28, a traction rope and members bearing in opposite directions against said spring and coupled to the traction rope.

23. In a cableway, in combination, the load-carriage, the supporting rope 10, the supporting rope extension 10 the coupler 38, the sheave 37 supported thereby and the traction rope 36 having its tail connected with the load-carriage and extending over said sheave.

24. In a cableway, in combination, the load carriage, the supporting rope, the traction-rope 33, 36, the traction rope sheaves 62 and 37 and means whereby said sheaves are suspended from the supporting cable at points on opposite sides of the load carriage.

25. In a cableway, in combination, a supporting rope, an elevated support for an end thereof, a load-carriage running thereon, a sheave secured thereto at a point between said load-carriage and elevated support, a pull-down rope 40 and a traction rope 36 extending from the load-carriage to said sheave approximately parallel with the su porting rope and thence diverging from tle supporting rope in the direction of the pulldown rope.

26. In a cableway, in combination, a supporting rope, elevated supports at opposite ends thereof, a load carriage, a traction rope run 33 extendingin one direction from said load carriage approximately parallel with the supporting rope to one of said elevated supports, a second traction rope-run 36 exi between said traction-rope and said ourtending from sald load-carriage approxlriage.

inately parallel With the supporting rope In testimony whereof, I have hereunto part Way toward the other elevated support signed my name in the presence of two sub- 5 and thence 1n a direction diverging from scribing Witnesses.

said supporting rope. v 1 1 e '1 27. In a cableway, in combination, a sup- THOMAS SPEA (LR porting cable, a haul-down for said cable a Witnesses: oad carriage moving thereon, a load car- ERNEST PULSFORD, 10 riage traction rope and a spring interposed H. G. BARRINGTON. 

